American officials are facing pressure to resign after calling Michelle Obama an ‘ape in heels’.

In a racist Facebook post that has since been deleted, Pamela Ramsey Taylor – the Development Corporation Director for Clay County in West Virginia – compared the First Lady to ‘classy, beautiful’ Melania Trump.

‘It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House,’ she wrote, referring to Melania – the wife of President-elect Donald Trump.

‘I’m tired of seeing a Ape (sic.) in heels.’

The racist remark attracted a massive backlash (Picture: Facebook)

Responding in the comments, the county’s mayor Beverly Whaling wrote: ‘Just made my day Pam.’

The county’s mayor responded in agreement (Picture: Facebook)

By the time the post was deleted, it had already been shared hundreds of times online – and screenshot many more times.

Michelle, a successful lawyer with degrees from Ivy League universities Princeton and Harvard, recently appeared on the cover of Vogue, and has been known throughout Barack Obama’s eight-year tenure for her grace, glamour, intelligence and sense of humour.